When Laura Jarrett looks back on the moment everything shifted, she remembers it with surprising clarity. She was six years into her law career — a stable, prestigious path she had spent years building — yet something quiet and persistent inside her was tugging in a new direction. She was sitting in her law firm office, buried in paperwork, contemplating the next step: partnership. But as she pictured a future defined by long nights, endless filings, and a career track that never quite felt like hers, she felt a truth settle over her like a stone.
“There was no path I was going to enjoy long term,” she recalls. “I realized if I didn’t jump before I had kids, I might never have the courage to do it.”
That jump — away from the familiar and into a world she had no experience navigating — is what brought Laura Jarrett where she is now: co-anchor of Saturday TODAY, legal correspondent, and mother of two young children who start her mornings with chaos, laughter, and the occasional interruption involving toys or potty training.
But long before she was a recognizable face on weekend television, Laura was simply a lawyer with a dream: to translate the complexities of law into stories millions could understand. “I loved putting puzzle pieces together,” she says. “I loved the challenge of taking something complicated and making it clear.”
The problem? She had never worked in TV.
So, she started knocking on doors — literally.
Local newsrooms weren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet. “They basically told me, ‘Get out of here,’” she laughs. But she kept going. Kept trying. Kept showing up.
Then CNN called.
They offered her a 4 a.m. spot — one of those time slots no one watches unless they’re awake by accident. It didn’t matter. “I was terrified,” she admits. “If anyone dug up the clip now, I’d cringe. But I’d also smile. It would remind me how far I’ve come.”
Laura stayed at CNN for six years, and everything accelerated when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. She was suddenly covering major legal stories, spending nearly every waking hour at the Department of Justice. Everyone knew her mother — Valerie Jarrett, longtime senior adviser to Barack Obama — but Laura was determined to prove herself on her own merits.
“I had to work really hard to earn people’s trust,” she says. “I was the new kid. And I was covering an administration that couldn’t have been more different from the one my mom served in.”
Her husband, Tony Balkissoon, noticed the change in her immediately. “He’d tell me, ‘You’re so happy. You’re so excited about your work — and it makes you a better partner.’”
The couple met during their second year at Harvard Law School, married in 2012, and waited several years before having children. That decision, Laura emphasizes, made all the difference. “We just had fun. Kids are amazing, but they are taxing. Having time together before that chaos was a blessing.”
Their son James was born first — energetic, hilarious, relentlessly curious, and, as Laura puts it, “a ham and a half.” Raising him was no easy feat. “He cried constantly,” she admits. “I was exhausted. I couldn’t wait for maternity leave to end.” But as he grew, so did his personality. Now James spends time at the park requesting math problems and explaining his mom’s job as if giving a press briefing: “I watch her tell the news to everybody.”
Their daughter November, born in 2022 and named after both grandmothers, is James’ total opposite — calm, observant, content to play quietly even in a room full of chaos. She worships her big brother, often reaching over at dinner to pat his hair affectionately while giggling at everything he does.
In early 2023, Laura took another leap: she joined NBC News as senior legal correspondent. Just seven months later, she stepped into an even bigger role — co-host of Saturday TODAY, sharing the anchor desk with Peter Alexander, a fellow parent who has already become an invaluable guide. “He’s such a good listener,” she says. “His girls are older, so he gives me tips about what’s coming next.”
Her first morning was a blur of nerves and real-life motherhood: “I got two hours of sleep,” she confessed on air. “Part nerves, part potty training.”
Still, the bigger picture is clear: she made the right leap.
After every broadcast, she rushes home to make breakfast for her kids. She and Tony juggle work and life together, embracing the beautiful unpredictability of raising two very different personalities under one roof.
Looking back on that moment in her law office — when she hesitated, then chose a future that scared her — Laura feels nothing but gratitude.
“I worked hard to get where I am,” she says. “But I’m proud I took the risk. I didn’t want to get stuck.”
And now, with a thriving career, a supportive marriage, and two children who watch her on TV in awe, Laura Jarrett is exactly where she needs to be — proof that the scariest decisions sometimes lead to the most extraordinary chapters.
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